The Teacher's Pet | Slowburn MJ FanFic

• | Chapter Twenty-Two | •

The time-ridden hinges of one of the doors loudly squeaked opened and echoed through the large gymnasium as Riley walked in with Mr. Jackson right behind her. She quickly noticed the cart of basketballs nearby and gravitated over to grab one to steadily dribble it.

"I used to play ball back in my day." Mr. Jackson mentioned as she continued to bounce the ball while slowly walking towards the center of the gymnasium, the echo of the compact against the shiny floors jumping off the walls.

Riley sucked her teeth and gave him the side-eye. "Back in your day? You're not even old." She headed over to one of the basketball goals, held up the ball and precisely aimed it into the net. "What are you? Twenty-five?"

"Twenty-seven, actually." He scooped up the ball after it bounced his way and began to dribble it himself. "Why were you and Jay arguing?"

She gritted her teeth as she folded her arms across her chest, watching him toss the ball perfectly into the net as well. "I'm pretty sure you caught the gist of it."

"I still don't understand what happened between you two, though."

Her eyes briefly followed the ball before she eventually looked up into his handsome face. "Petty stuff."

"Describe 'petty stuff'."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say it's petty. My reasoning for being angry was justified." She replied, catching the ball when he tossed it at her. "I really needed to talk to her, but she was too busy with Craig. As always."

"Yeah, I kind of caught that part." He rubbed the back of his neck as he reflected on her choice of words. "Do you remember what I told your class earlier this semester?"

She thought for a moment as she dribbled the ball in place. "About the therapist thing?"

"Yep, you can talk to me about anything." He said, placing his hands on his hips. "For free."

"Are you sure you want to hear me babbling about some dating drama?" She asked, tossing the ball back toward him.

He shrugged and immediately began dribbling the ball once it reached him once more. "If you need someone to vent to or ask for advice, I'm your guy."

She pursed her lips before exhaling loudly, then started pacing a little. "This guy I was talking to was being a complete ass. When I first met him, he was nice and all. But he was so jealous for no reason and sometimes, too hands-on. Some girls may think it's cute or whatever, but it makes my skin crawl."

"Has he tried forcing himself on you?" He asked, a tinge of anger rushing through his veins like a freight train. He was no longer dribbling the basketball.

She shook her head. "No."

Mr. Jackson nodded as his eyes stayed fixated on the ball in his hands. "Good."

"But the jealous thing really bothered me. Like, a guy could just innocently brush past me or make eye contact with me, and he would flip out." She began to rehash the drama that happened at Marviana's. Wrinkles formed on Mr. Jackson's forehead when he deeply furrowed his eyebrows, staring at her appalled. "I felt so bad for this waiter during our date. He wasn't allowed to look at me, talk to me, nothing. His behavior was out of nowhere."

Red flags were going off in Mr. Jackson's mind as he listened. He never heard anything so crazy. "What the hell was his problem?"

She simply shrugged and sighed. "I don't know. I couldn't take any more after that, so I walked home."

"You walked home?" He asked in utter disbelief. "Why didn't you call anybody?"

"Well, I didn't exactly walk home. But like I said, Jay was too busy kissing Craig's ass and I can't depend on my parents. But Michelle was able to pick me up."